Archive for the ‘Employment Screening’ category

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Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

December 14th, 2010

A brief overview of the BPSS requirement for employment screening.

BPSS is a set of guidelines defined by the UK Government Cabinet Office.  The BPSS requirements are applied for screening any employee who may have access to information classified as PROTECT, which is largely RESTRICTED or CONFIDENTIAL assets of UK origin.

The BPSS employment screening requirement is also the baseline applied prior to more enhanced security screening, namely; Counter-Terrorist-Check (CTC), Security Check (SC), and Developed Vetting (DV).

There are four specific areas covered by BPSS screening, these are:

  1. Verification of the individual’s identity.
  2. Confirmation of the individual’s immigration status and their right to work in the UK.
  3. Verification of the past 3 years employment history.
  4. Criminal Records – basic level of disclosure covering unspent offences.

BPSS is applied to employees in the public sector, and also in the private sector where an individual may have access to information classified as PROTECT.  Often a company that contracts to a UK Government department will be required to confirm that any relevant personnel are screened to the BPSS standard.

If you would like to know how Credit Check Services can support your BPSS employment screening requirements please call us on 01992 719 234.

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The Bribery Act 2010, employers may be held liable!

October 25th, 2010

The new Bribery Act 2010, which is expected to become law in Spring 2011, will see a range of offences to criminalise bribery.  This is of particular note to employers who can be held liable and prosecuted for negligence if it is determined there was a failure to prevent bribery.

The new Bribery Act 2010 comes into effect as industry experts warn of the continued fraud highs. A partner of KPMG, Hitesh Patel, warns that fraud in 2010 is likely to see the continued fraud highs of 2009. One of the key areas highlighted for 2010 is supply chain and accounting fraud.  It is also expected that employee bribery and corruption offences will become an increasing issue for employers. 

Key for employers is not only to familiarise themselves with the new Bribery Act 2010 but also to develop procedures to safeguard against fraud and bribery.  Such safeguards not only include business processes to identify where a risk to the business may exist, but also screening employees to identify an individual’s potential risk. Specifically the Bribery Act will create a new offence for a “failure of a commercial organisation to prevent a bribe being paid for on its behalf” – it will be a defence if the organisation has adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery.

Credit Check Services is a leading UK company that specialises in screening people, for more information on employment screening services visit the website at Credit-Check-Services.co.uk

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Employee screening – an overview

October 19th, 2010

We are often asked to recommend an appropriate level of screening for employers and thought it would be useful to publish more information about the level and type of screening.  In broad terms screening can be classified into seven main categories which we have outlined below.  These are not exclusive categories.

Financial background checks.  This covers data such as history of CCJs, Court Decrees, Bankruptcy, Sequestrations, and Insolvency.  It can also include lists such as HM Treasury  and OFAC to identify if an individual is listed on any databases for sanctions, fraud, etc.

Employment history.  This covers the employee / applicant’s previous stated employment to verify that they were employed, dates employed, etc.  Also this can include any adverse information that a past employer is willing to provide, for example if an employee was dismissed from a company.

Qualifications and professional memberships.  Any qualifications or professional memberships that an employee or applicant has can be verified to confirm authenticity.

Criminal record checks.  There are essentially 3 levels of CRB checks, these are Basic, Standard, and Enhanced.  As an employer you must adhere to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and not obtain a CRB check inappropriate for the type of employment.  You can read more about CRB checks on our main website here.

Personal / character references.  References can be obtained from personal friends of the employee or applicant, and also professional references to attest an individual’s character.

Identity verifications.  These are in two forms, one is the physical photo ID verification against a physical document such as a passport.  The other is from searches of databases to confirm an identity exists linked to a given address, etc.

Industry specific screening.  This varies by sector, for the Financial Services there is the FSA “fit and proper persons test”, for many Government departments there is the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and for more classified areas such as the MoD there are CTC, SC and DV for increased levels of security vetting.  Within the Security Industry (e.g. guarding, alarm installation etc) there is BS7858:2006 which details how screening must be conducted to meet with regulated compliance.

You can read more about our employee screening services here:

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Employee fraud – CIFAS and prevention

October 1st, 2010

Research conducted by CIFAS, the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service found that only 2 organisations had not experienced employee fraud. 

Typical examples of employee fraud identified by CIFAS included falsifying CVs with “material falsehoods”, selling confidential company documents,  and passing on details of company clients for financial gain. Other types of fraud uncovered have included:

  • Misappropriating company funds.
  • Stealing cheques
  • Inflating expenses claimed
  • Forging signatures
  • Falsely claiming family bereavement to obtain time off work.
  • Forging signatures
  • Falsifying documents
  • Selling company assets for personal gain

CIFAS maintains a register to help employers identify applicants at risk of fraud.  Additionally CIFAS research has identified the following best practice to minimise exposure to employee fraud:

  1. Verifying employment history
  2. Confirmation of qualifications
  3. Confirmation of the employee’s identity
  4. Credit reference checks
  5. Taking up references

Credit Check Services provides screening for employers covering all of these aspects including regulatory standards and Government standards such as BS7858:2006 and BPSS.  For more information on employment screening visit the website.

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Why pre employment screening is so important

September 28th, 2010

It is increasingly common for people to exagerate the content of their CV to help get an interview and ultimately a job offer.  Most employers rely on the interview to identify any such discrepancies in the CV; but even if this was guaranteed to weed out inaccurate statements should more be done to screen potential employees?

For example, how would you know if a prospective employee has “fake” qualifications, debt problems enforced through a civil court, a criminal record, flagged as being at risk risk of money laundering or fraud?

Would you want to know if your potential employee is affected by any of these issues?

At the very least a business has a duty of care to its customers.  And carrying out background employment screening checks need not be expensive.  At Credit Check Services employment screening starts at less than £20, so why take the risk?

Call Credit Check Services on 01992 719 234, or visit our website www.credit-check-services.co.uk for more information.

Credit Check Services, ISO 9001:2008 certified by the British Standards Institute (BSI), certificate number FS 563432

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CV verification – are candidates lying?

June 15th, 2010

It is a fact that an increasing number of people are exaggerating their CVs to gain what they feel will be an advantage in an interview.  Our own research has identified significant errors in 30% of CVs we have checked, errors such as qualifications incorrectly stated.

All too often employers believe the CV headlines in terms of qualifications and previous employment roles and whilst most employees are being relatively clear about these areas a significant proportion are not.  So the question is are you getting the best candidate from your employment screening or are you instead getting the one who is the best at the interview?

In America employment background screening is common place with a reported 80% of companies using selection processes that include third part companies to screen applicants, a key component being CV verification. These affects are now starting to be seen in the UK where companies seek contracts with USA based organisations who now often include a contractual requirement on their suppliers to implement rigorous employment screening of staff involved.

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Employment screening and unfair discrimination

March 23rd, 2010

Following the recent announcements on the extension of CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checks for people involved in the care of children there has been a marked increase in the number of companies requesting CRB checks on their employees.  The increase identified by Credit Check Services does not really relate to those working with children, the increase is most pronounced for general areas of employment.

Credit Check Services also found that 1 in 3 employers requesting CRB checks did not know what level of CRB check would apply to the employment role, in part this is due to the lack of clarity provided on how much information a company is permitted to use for employment screening.

For example, there are currently three levels of CRB checks that can be carried out, these are termed “basic”, “standard” and “enhanced”.  The basic CRB check provides details of any criminal convictions that are determined as “unspent”.  The standard CRB check provides additional details of “spent” criminal convictions along with and police cautions or reprimands.  The enhanced check takes this one step further to provide additional information relating to adult and children’s registers and relevant information recorded by Government bodies.

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 provides an opportunity for those with “spent” convictions to gain employment without having their previous criminal record being taken into account.  However as some types of employment are considered sensitive legislation was passed producing an “exceptions order” listing types of employment where an employer is permitted to see information on convictions as provided for in the “standard” CRB check. 

So why is this so important?  Well consider a situation where an employer does not know what level of CRB check is appropriate, consequently using the “standard” CRB check to screen an applicant and rejecting them for a role due to a “spent” conviction.  If the employment role did not come under the “exceptions order” then the employer may be breaking the law by discriminating unfairly against the applicant.

It is fundamental for all employers to ensure that “appropriate” employment screening is applied to selection processes, failure to do so could result in potential litigation for discrimination.

If you would like to know more about employment screening, including criminal record checks, call Credit Check Services on 01992 719 234

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Employee Screening Checks

December 30th, 2009

It is quite amazing just how many employers in small businesses do not realise the importance of employee  screening for credit and financial issues.

During December 2009 we focused on one sector in the small business market, public houses.  Almost all transactions are in cash, so within this employment sector you would expect to find that employers are particular about who they check?

Our small survey covered 20 public houses taken at random from Yellow.  We called and asked to speak with the pub owner or manager.  After introducing ourselves we asked the following questions:

1 – Do you employ staff to work in your pub?

2 – If yes, then do you carry out any type of financial background checks or identity checks?

The response was in line with what we expected but nonetheless quite shocking when you think of the potential consequences.

Out of the 20 pubs we randomly surveyed we found that all employed part-time or full-time staff who had access to the till, and only 2 (two) of those we surveyed carried out financial screening of their employees.

At Credit Check Services we find around 10% of those checked have a CCJ or Court Decree and in some cases we even find that the identity does not exist.  Based on these averages this would suggest two of the pubs we surveyed are employing staff to handle cash that have outstanding court-enforced debts.

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Linked address searches

August 18th, 2009

The importance of carrying out a linked address search cannot be overstated.  Take for example an applicant who has a CCJ or Court Decree against their name at an address they were living at 12 months ago.  The applicant then relocates to a new address and provides this address for carrying out an on-line check.

When an on-line search is carried out in court databases it requires a name, date of birth and an address.  If all 3 match then any CCJs or Court Decrees will be found for the address provided.  If the address does not match then the applicant will show up as having a clean record – even though this may not be the case.  This happens because court databases will often not be updated with the applicant’s address(es) subsequent to an original entry where a court order was recorded.

The only way to ensure a full search of court databases is to first carry out a linked address search, and then search against each of the linked addresses found along with the applicant’s name and date of birth.  The linked address search against court databases helps to ensure that any court orders against an applicant are found. We strongly recommend that you only use the services of a company who include linked address searches, otherwise your CCJ/bankruptcy/Insolvency check may not be worth the paper it is written on!

Credit Check Services provides report options that include a linked address search at no extra cost.  For more information on tenant checks or staff vetting visit our website Credit-Check-Services.co.uk.

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Posted in Consumer Credit Checks, Employment Screening, Tenant Checks

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